Red Sox fire chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom
BOSTON – The Red Sox announced they have fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom.
Bloom has been with the team since 2019 after spending 15 years with the Tampa Bay Rays.
General Manager Brian O'Halloran has been offered a new senior leadership role within the organization, the Red Sox said.
"While parting ways is not taken lightly, today signals a new direction for our club," principal owner John Henry said. "Our organization has significant expectations on the field and while Chaim's efforts in revitalizing our baseball infrastructure have helped set the stage for the future, we will today begin a search for new leadership. Everyone who knows Chaim has a deep appreciation and respect for the kind of person he is. His time with us will always be marked by his professionalism, integrity, and an unwavering respect for our club and its legacy."
"The decision was not made lightly or easily," President & CEO Sam Kennedy said in a press conference on Thursday. "We all know where we are in the standings. It's a painful reality that fans feel as deeply as we do. Our fans deserve a winning, competitive team that consistently plays postseason baseball."
Bloom was hired in October of 2019, and his first order of business was to trade 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts that offseason in order to reset the teams payroll. He sent Betts to the Dodgers but the return was pretty lackluster, landing the Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo, catcher Connor Wong, and infielder prospect Jeter Downs, who was released by Boston earlier this season.
Last offseason, Bloom and the Red Sox watched shortstop Xander Bogaerts depart via free agency.
Under Bloom's watch, the Red Sox made it to the ALCS in 2021, but also finished in last two other seasons. Boston was 73-72 at the time of his firing on Thursday, tied with the Yankees at the bottom of the AL East.
While Bloom was able to rebuild Boston's minor league system, he was not able to build a winner at the Major League level.
"I think we've always been consistent, trying to build, build that farm system, but win at the major league level has always been a priority," Kennedy said. "Obviously, the past two seasons we haven't been there and the change was made."